Germany and France have written a letter to the Uzbekistan government, urging it to allow a Human Rights Watch (HRW) representative to work in the country.

In the letter, French Human Rights Minister Rama Yade and German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler said Uzbekistan should grant work accreditation to HRW representative Igor Vorontsov.

Human Rights Watch said in July that Uzbekistan had barred Vorontsov from the country despite the fact that the EU had made accreditation of an HRW representative a condition for the lifting of sanctions on the Central Asian state.

Journalists In Trouble

RFE/RL journalists take risks, face threats, and make sacrifices every day in an effort to gather the news. Our "Journalists In Trouble" page recognizes their courage and conviction, and documents the high price that many have paid simply for doing their jobs. More